Body Positive Blogger Proves Size Is Just a Number With Striking Instagram

A body positivity coach is proving that size is just a number with some striking images.

Michelle Elman, known as scarrednotscared on Instagram, says she recently found a dress in her closet that she purchased five years ago when she was a size 10 (U.K. size 12) and the dress was a size 12 (U.K. size 14). Today, Elman is a size 18 (U.K. size 20) and she was still able to fit into the same dress.

“NUMBERS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post that quickly went viral. “So are you really going to let a change in dress size dictate your day? Are you really going to let an increase in a number affect your mood?”

“Same dress. Still comfortable. Still beautiful,” the 24-year-old said, noting that she thinks she looks better and feels happier now. “A higher dress size doesn’t mean you are less beautiful, you are less worthy, you are less lovable, you are a worse human, you are a bad person, you are a different person.”

Elman explained that a higher-sized dress doesn’t even mean you have a bigger body since you could go up a dress size by simply changing stores, or countries. “You can change dress sizes because of the time of the day or simply due to whether you are on your period or not,” she noted.

“Numbers don’t matter,” she said. “Not the number on the back of your jeans, on the scale or even the number in your bank account. You are not a number.”

Elman’s nearly 50,000 followers mostly praised her candidness, however there were some comments that prompted her to post a response. Many individuals wrote “You look good for a size 20,” yet she doesn’t view this as a compliment. “It’s like saying that an older woman looks good ‘for her age,'” she wrote. “Who says size 20 women can’t look good? Who says older women can’t look good? It’s ALSO an insult to all my other size 20 babes. When you say I look good for a size 20, it usually means I look skinnier than a size 20 which still sends the message: thin = good, fat = bad.”

She continued, “If people tell you they are a certain size, believe them. They are the ones picking out their clothes! You can be the same dress size + look bigger/smaller.” Elman concluded, “Whatever your size, you look good for your size.”